Not a Lee Greenwood Moment

 For the first time in my life I’m actually embarrassed to be an American.

In the past four years, the Donald Trump-era has provided (too many to count) cringe-inducing moments played out on the national scene. Wednesday’s events at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., went beyond the pale. Vladimir Putin must have enjoyed himself watching the disgusting actions from our citizenry.

Now, I’ve embarrassed myself plenty over 53 years and I’ve been an ugly American; daring to wear shorts in Paris and order Diet Coke at a restaurant in Belgium.

Today I had settled in for a nice boring afternoon of watching the electoral college roll call and debates, and had already yelled at Ted Cruz on TV as expected, when things outside the hallowed halls began to deteriorate.

Melanie and I disagree slightly. She believes the riotous mob that stormed the Capitol needs to take responsibility for their action. That I agree with, but it doesn’t go far enough. The president needs to be held accountable for his actions since Election Day, promoting the delusion that he had the election stolen from him. The last straw was egging on his supporters at Lafayette Park in the morning. Eventually they were bound to crack.

I spent a good part of the afternoon talking back to the TV. It’s good that Melanie’s office is upstairs and she doesn’t have to listen to me. On my way to work tonight, I about drove off the road yelling at the radio when Trump’s recorded statement was played. What a pathetic farce that was.

I yelled at the TV in the Kohl's break room and again at the radio on the way home, this time agreeing with Mitt Romney’s comments put forth on the Senate floor. I’m writing this downstairs talking to the TV as I go. I don’t dare try this upstairs while Melanie sleeps. It would be akin to shaking the bed with laughter when I watch “Impractical Jokers.”

There will be much discussion about the lack of police presence and slow response. The mob was so emboldened that many made no effort to conceal their identity. Of course, mask wearing has not been high on their list of priorities. For those who breached the Capitol and escaped, I hope facial recognition software catches up with them.

I’ve never been much of a political person for the most part, but the circus of the past four years has made me more aware of the political machinery and its machinations. I’m ready to go back to having politics being in the background, but I have a feeling that going forward things have changed forever.